Manhunt: Details of fugitive's path begin to emerge

Feb. 13, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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An aerial photo shows the burnt-out cabin Wednesday where Christopher Dorner is believed to have died after barricading himself inside during a Tuesday standoff with police in the Angeles Oaks area near Big Bear. San Bernardino sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah MacKay was killed and another deputy was wounded during the shootout with a man believed to be Dorner. John Valenzuela, The Sun

In this image taken from video provided by KABC-TV, the cabin in Big Bear where ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner was believed to have been barricaded inside is seen in flames Tuesday. AP PHOTO/KABC-TV

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San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon addresses the media next to a photo of slain Detective Jeremiah MacKay as Irvine Police Chief David L. Maggard and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck listen, at left, at the San Bernardino County sheriff's headquarters Wednesday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A view from the third-floor unit that fugitive murder suspect Christopher Dorner possibly had from 1274 Club View Drive in Big Bear if he was involved in a home-invasion robbery. This was the site of a Command Post. CINDY YAMANAKA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Children board a school bus a day after a standoff between law enforcement officers and who is believed to be suspected murderer and former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner on February 13, 2013 in Angelus Oaks, California. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN, GETTY IMAGES

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The Riverside County Sheriff's Department broadcast a general advisory stating Christopher Jordan Dorner was possibly involved in a home-invasion robbery at 1274 Club View Drive in Big Bear, pictured. This is the back where a screen was found under a downstairs window. CINDY YAMANAKA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Highway 38 leading to Glass Road, where fugitive Christopher Dorner is believed to have had a shootout with police, remained closed Wednesday morning. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A helicopter unloads a police officer on top of Loma Linda Medical Center. The police officer was shot while searching for Christopher Dorner in Big Bear on Tuesday. STEVEN K. DOI/ZUMA24.COM

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Andrea Benson of Big Bear walks her dog Prissy near the site where Christopher Dorner was possibly involved in a home-invasion robbery, in a building behind the one on the left. Benson lives 600 yards away and was surprised that Dorner might have been close by. She adds that she never saw police scouring her area though she was constantly at her window. The retiree was also surprised that the ski resorts were allowed to open so quickly. CINDY YAMANAKA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman addresses reporters Tuesday on Highway 38 near where Christpher Dorner was reported to be hiding in a cabin. EUGENE GARCIA, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A San Bernardino Sheriff's Department deputy watches as a car is towed away after a standoff and a shootout with a man believed to be Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner on Tuesday in Angelus Oaks. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN, GETTY IMAGES

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Children are dropped off by a Redlands Unified School District bus at the road closure on Highway 38 where they were picked up. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

The intersection of Highway 38 and Glass Road still remains closed Wednesday evening. It's where fugitive Christopher Dorner was spotted before a shootout with police and the area is an active crime scene. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A photo of slain detective Jeremiah MacKay after a press conference by San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's headquarters Wednesday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Irvine Police Chief David L. Maggardm left, and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, listen to San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon during a press conference at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's headquarters Wednesday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A photo of slain detective Jeremiah MacKay at a press conference by at the San Bernardino County Sheriff's headquarters Wednesday afternoon. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Rick Heltebrake and his dog Suni were allegedly carjacked by Christopher Dorner shortly before the fugitive had a shootout with police. Heltebrake said Dorner walked out of the woods with a gun before stealing his truck. "He said he didn't want to hurt me and I believed him. If I get the reward (for tipping off police about Dorner's whereabouts) I'll buy a new truck, he said. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Snow melts off the rooftop of The Oaks Restaurant, the staging area for media waiting to see the burned-out cabin that Christopher Dorner allegedly died. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

An aerial photo shows the burnt-out cabin Wednesday where Christopher Dorner is believed to have died after barricading himself inside during a Tuesday standoff with police in the Angeles Oaks area near Big Bear. San Bernardino sheriff's Deputy Jeremiah MacKay was killed and another deputy was wounded during the shootout with a man believed to be Dorner. John Valenzuela, The Sun

The search for Christopher Dorner, a fugitive former police officer suspected of carrying out a murderous vendetta against law enforcement, ended with a volley of gunfire, a fusillade of hot tear-gas canisters and a fire that burned his final hideout to the ground.

Forensic experts were still working late Wednesday to identify a burnt body found in the wreckage of the cabin where Dorner barricaded himself as law-enforcement officers closed in. But San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon expressed little doubt that the body was Dorner's and announced that the six-day manhunt is over.

Authorities believe Dorner killed four people in retribution for his firing from the Los Angeles Police Department several years ago. The latest was San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department detective Jeremiah MacKay, 35, married, with a 7-year-old daughter and a 4-month-old son, hit during Tuesday's furious gunbattle.

Meanwhile, details of how Dorner eluded an unprecedented manhunt and the rapid-fire events that ended it began to emerge. One of the last people to see him, a motorist he carjacked on a mountain road, said Dorner was dressed in camouflage, with a ballistic vest loaded with ammunition, carrying an assault rifle – and businesslike calm.

"He was not wild-eyed and crazy," said Rick Heltebrake, who escaped with his dog Suni. "He told me he didn't want to hurt me, and I believed him. I felt in danger because I had a gun pointed at me, but I did not think he was going to kill me."

Dorner may have spent several days holed up in a vacant vacation home near Bear Mountain ski area, just down the street from where a police command center had been set up. From there, he would have had a partial view of the legions of law-enforcement officers sent into the mountain communities to find him.

Authorities said Wednesday that they had checked the area last week after Dorner's pickup was found nearby but did not find signs of forced entry in the vacation home. It was not clear how long Dorner had been there; McMahon said the home had been unoccupied since Feb.6.

Dorner apparently broke cover Tuesday after he was surprised in the home. Authorities originally indicated that two housekeepers had run into him, but Jim and Karen Reynolds, who identified themselves as the owners of the home, told the media Wednesday night that they were the ones who had encountered Dorner.

"I really thought 'This could be the end,' " Karen Reynolds recalled of her first thoughts upon seeing Dorner when she entered the home. "He said 'I know you have seen me on the news. I know you know who I am.' "

While Dorner was binding the pair with plastic ties, they say, he told them that he needed their vehicle to get out of the Big Bear Lake area and that he didn't plan on killing them. Jim Reynolds said Dorner mentioned watching him shovel snow at the unit, leading Reynolds to believe that Dorner had been there since at least Friday.

After Dorner left in their vehicle, Karen Reynolds said, she was able to get to a cell phone and call 911.

California Fish and Wildlife wardens saw the car and chased it down mountain roads. The suspect ditched the car on a side road.

Heltebrake said he was driving through a Boy Scout camp he runs near Highway 38 when a man he immediately recognized as Dorner stepped through the trees. He said Dorner leveled a "big assault rifle" at him and then ordered him and his dog out of his truck.

"I don't want to hurt you," Heltebrake said Dorner told him. "Take your dog and go." Heltebrake said he asked if he could grab his dog's leash, and Dorner said no. Seconds later, as Dorner fled, Heltebrake heard gunshots and ducked behind a tree.

Police said game wardens had caught up to Dorner, who fired at them through an open window from the pickup. He crashed, then abandoned the truck and barricaded himself inside a large cabin.

A barrage of gunfire rang through the mountain neighborhoods as law-enforcement officers surrounded him. "It was like a warzone," McMahon said. "The rounds kept coming, but our deputies didn't give up."

The gunfire hit and seriously injured San Bernardino deputy Alex Collins, who was expected to recover. It killed MacKay, who had spoken days earlier about the dangers of searching for Dorner.

"This one you just never know if the guy's going to pop out, or where he's going to pop out," MacKay told an Associated Press reporter as he patroled the area over the weekend. "We're hoping this comes to a close without more casualties. The best thing would be for him to give up."

Officers lobbed canisters of tear gas into the cabin, first "cold" canisters, then pyrotechnic canisters that they refer to as "burners," McMahon said. The cabin caught fire, and police reported hearing a single gunshot from inside.

"We did not intend to burn down that cabin to get Dorner out," McMahon said.

Authorities confirmed late Tuesday that they had recovered a charred body from inside the home, but they were still waiting for official confirmation of its identity. Forensic experts said that can take a matter of hours, if they can use dental records or weeks or even months if they have to use DNA.

Investigators believe Dorner was carrying out threats he made in an online manifesto as he traveled from Irvine to the Inland Empire and left four people dead. The lengthy post said that Dorner had been unjustly fired from the Los Angeles Police Department several years ago and promised to wage war against those he thought had wronged him.

One of those killed was Officer Michael Crain of the Riverside Police Department, shot last week in what the Riverside chief described as an ambush. On Wednesday, hundreds of law-enforcement officers from around the region attended his funeral in Riverside. Mourners lined the street leading to the church, holding flags and signs of support.

Police believe Dorner started his campaign in the parking garage of an Irvine condominium complex, where Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence were found shot to death in their car. They were both standout college basketball players, newly engaged. Lawrence worked as a patrol officer at USC; Quan was an assistant basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton.

Her father, a former captain in the Los Angeles Police Department, represented Dorner during the disciplinary hearing that ended his career. He was identified by name in the manifesto that officials believe Dorner wrote.

Irvine's City Council displayed a photo of Quan during a moment of silence to start a meeting Tuesday. Irvine Mayor Steven Choi said the couple should be remembered as "young people with dreams and aspirations."

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